In Print, the Type of Paper Used Can Affect How a Color Appears.

What this handout is about

This handout will provide a broad overview of gathering and using evidence. It will assistance you lot decide what counts every bit bear witness, put evidence to work in your writing, and decide whether y'all have enough testify. Information technology will also offer links to additional resources.

Introduction

Many papers that you write in college will require y'all to brand an argument; this means that you must have a position on the subject you are discussing and support that position with evidence. Information technology's important that you apply the right kind of evidence, that you lot employ it effectively, and that you accept an appropriate corporeality of it. If, for example, your philosophy professor didn't like information technology that y'all used a survey of public opinion as your master evidence in your ethics paper, you lot demand to find out more near what philosophers count equally good evidence. If your instructor has told you that y'all need more analysis, suggested that you're "just listing" points or giving a "laundry listing," or asked yous how certain points are related to your argument, it may mean that y'all tin can exercise more to fully contain your evidence into your argument. Comments like "for example?," "proof?," "go deeper," or "expand" in the margins of your graded paper advise that you lot may need more evidence. Let's have a look at each of these issues—understanding what counts as evidence, using testify in your argument, and deciding whether yous need more evidence.

What counts as evidence?

Before you lot begin gathering data for possible use as testify in your argument, y'all need to be sure that yous sympathise the purpose of your consignment. If you are working on a projection for a grade, look carefully at the assignment prompt. Information technology may give you clues well-nigh what sorts of evidence you will demand. Does the instructor mention any item books you lot should apply in writing your newspaper or the names of any authors who have written almost your topic? How long should your paper be (longer works may require more, or more than varied, evidence)? What themes or topics come up up in the text of the prompt? Our handout on understanding writing assignments tin can help you interpret your assignment. It's besides a good thought to think over what has been said about the assignment in class and to talk with your instructor if yous need description or guidance.

What matters to instructors?

Instructors in dissimilar bookish fields expect dissimilar kinds of arguments and testify—your chemical science paper might include graphs, charts, statistics, and other quantitative information equally evidence, whereas your English paper might include passages from a novel, examples of recurring symbols, or discussions of characterization in the novel. Consider what kinds of sources and testify you lot have seen in form readings and lectures. You may wish to meet whether the Writing Center has a handout regarding the specific bookish field you lot're working in—for example, literature, sociology, or history.

What are principal and secondary sources?

A note on terminology: many researchers distinguish betwixt chief and secondary sources of prove (in this example, "master" means "get-go" or "original," not "most important"). Chief sources include original documents, photographs, interviews, and and so forth. Secondary sources present data that has already been processed or interpreted by someone else. For case, if you are writing a paper near the movie "The Matrix," the picture show itself, an interview with the director, and product photos could serve as primary sources of evidence. A pic review from a magazine or a collection of essays about the moving picture would be secondary sources. Depending on the context, the same item could be either a primary or a secondary source: if I am writing about people'due south relationships with animals, a collection of stories about animals might exist a secondary source; if I am writing virtually how editors gather diverse stories into collections, the same volume might now function as a primary source.

Where can I detect evidence?

Here are some examples of sources of information and tips almost how to use them in gathering show. Ask your instructor if you aren't sure whether a sure source would be appropriate for your paper.

Print and electronic sources

Books, journals, websites, newspapers, magazines, and documentary films are some of the well-nigh common sources of evidence for academic writing. Our handout on evaluating impress sources volition aid you cull your print sources wisely, and the library has a tutorial on evaluating both print sources and websites. A librarian can assistance you observe sources that are appropriate for the type of consignment you lot are completing. But visit the reference desk at Davis or the Undergraduate Library or chat with a librarian online (the library'south IM screen proper noun is undergradref).

Observation

Sometimes you can directly observe the thing you are interested in, past watching, listening to, touching, tasting, or smelling it. For example, if you were asked to write virtually Mozart's music, y'all could mind to it; if your topic was how businesses concenter traffic, yous might go and wait at window displays at the mall.

Interviews

An interview is a good fashion to collect information that you tin can't find through any other type of research. An interview can provide an expert's opinion, biographical or get-go-hand experiences, and suggestions for further research.

Surveys

Surveys allow you lot to find out some of what a group of people thinks about a topic. Designing an constructive survey and interpreting the data you get can be challenging, so it's a good idea to cheque with your instructor earlier creating or administering a survey.

Experiments

Experimental data serve as the primary course of scientific bear witness. For scientific experiments, you lot should follow the specific guidelines of the discipline yous are studying. For writing in other fields, more than breezy experiments might exist acceptable as evidence. For example, if you lot want to prove that food choices in a cafeteria are affected by gender norms, you might ask classmates to undermine those norms on purpose and observe how others react. What would happen if a football actor were eating dinner with his teammates and he brought a small salad and nutrition drink to the tabular array, all the while murmuring about his waistline and wondering how many fatty grams the salad dressing contained?

Personal feel

Using your own experiences tin be a powerful style to appeal to your readers. You lot should, yet, use personal experience simply when it is advisable to your topic, your writing goals, and your audience. Personal experience should not be your but form of prove in most papers, and some disciplines frown on using personal experience at all. For example, a story nearly the microscope y'all received as a Christmas gift when yous were nine years old is probably not applicable to your biological science lab report.

Using evidence in an argument

Does prove speak for itself?

Absolutely not. Afterwards you introduce evidence into your writing, you must say why and how this show supports your argument. In other words, you have to explain the significance of the evidence and its function in your newspaper. What turns a fact or slice of information into testify is the connection it has with a larger merits or argument: evidence is always show for or against something, and y'all accept to make that link articulate.

Equally writers, we sometimes assume that our readers already know what we are talking about; nosotros may be wary of elaborating too much considering nosotros call up the betoken is obvious. But readers can't read our minds: although they may be familiar with many of the ideas we are discussing, they don't know what nosotros are trying to do with those ideas unless nosotros indicate information technology through explanations, arrangement, transitions, and so forth. Try to spell out the connections that yous were making in your mind when yous chose your evidence, decided where to place it in your paper, and drew conclusions based on it. Remember, y'all tin can always cutting prose from your paper later if you determine that you are stating the obvious.

Here are some questions you can ask yourself about a particular flake of evidence:

OK, I've just stated this betoken, but and then what? Why is it interesting? Why should anyone care?
What does this information imply?
What are the consequences of thinking this way or looking at a trouble this way?
I've only described what something is similar or how I encounter it, only why is it like that?
I've just said that something happens—so how does it happen? How does it come up to be the way it is?
Why is this information of import? Why does information technology thing?
How is this idea related to my thesis? What connections exist between them? Does it support my thesis? If so, how does it do that?
Can I give an example to illustrate this point?

Answering these questions may help y'all explain how your prove is related to your overall argument.

How can I incorporate evidence into my newspaper?

There are many ways to present your show. Often, your evidence volition exist included as text in the torso of your paper, as a quotation, paraphrase, or summary. Sometimes y'all might include graphs, charts, or tables; excerpts from an interview; or photographs or illustrations with accompanying captions.

Quotations

When yous quote, you are reproducing another writer'south words exactly as they appear on the page. Hither are some tips to help you decide when to use quotations:

Quote if you can't say it whatever better and the writer'southward words are particularly brilliant, witty, edgy, distinctive, a good analogy of a indicate y'all're making, or otherwise interesting.
Quote if you are using a particularly authoritative source and you demand the author'southward expertise to back up your point.
Quote if y'all are analyzing wording, tone, or a writer's use of a specific discussion or phrase.
Quote if you are taking a position that relies on the reader's understanding exactly what another writer says well-nigh the topic.

Be certain to introduce each quotation yous use, and always cite your sources. Meet our handout on quotations for more details on when to quote and how to format quotations.

Like all pieces of bear witness, a quotation tin't speak for itself. If you end a paragraph with a quotation, that may be a sign that you have neglected to hash out the importance of the quotation in terms of your argument. Information technology's of import to avoid "plop quotations," that is, quotations that are only dropped into your paper without any introduction, discussion, or follow-upwardly.

Paraphrasing

When you paraphrase, you take a specific section of a text and put it into your ain words. Putting it into your ain words doesn't mean merely irresolute or rearranging a few of the author'south words: to paraphrase well and avoid plagiarism, try setting your source aside and restating the judgement or paragraph you have just read, as though you were describing information technology to another person. Paraphrasing is different than summary because a paraphrase focuses on a item, adequately brusque bit of text (like a phrase, sentence, or paragraph). You lot'll demand to betoken when y'all are paraphrasing someone else's text past citing your source correctly, merely equally you would with a quotation.

When might yous want to paraphrase?

Paraphrase when you desire to introduce a writer'south position, just his or her original words aren't special enough to quote.
Paraphrase when you are supporting a particular point and demand to depict on a certain place in a text that supports your point—for example, when 1 paragraph in a source is especially relevant.
Paraphrase when y'all want to nowadays a author'due south view on a topic that differs from your position or that of some other writer; y'all tin then refute writer'southward specific points in your own words later y'all paraphrase.
Paraphrase when you desire to comment on a particular example that another writer uses.
Paraphrase when you need to present information that's unlikely to be questioned.

Summary

When you summarize, you are offering an overview of an unabridged text, or at least a lengthy section of a text. Summary is useful when you are providing background information, grounding your own statement, or mentioning a source equally a counter-argument. A summary is less nuanced than paraphrased cloth. It tin be the most effective style to incorporate a large number of sources when you don't accept a lot of space. When you are summarizing someone else's argument or ideas, be certain this is articulate to the reader and cite your source accordingly.

Statistics, data, charts, graphs, photographs, illustrations

Sometimes the best testify for your argument is a hard fact or visual representation of a fact. This type of evidence can be a solid backbone for your argument, only you lot still need to create context for your reader and draw the connections yous desire him or her to make. Remember that statistics, information, charts, graph, photographs, and illustrations are all open to interpretation. Guide the reader through the interpretation process. Again, always, cite the origin of your show if you lot didn't produce the material y'all are using yourself.

Exercise I need more than evidence?

Let'south say that yous've identified some appropriate sources, found some prove, explained to the reader how it fits into your overall argument, incorporated it into your draft effectively, and cited your sources. How do yous tell whether you've got enough bear witness and whether information technology's working well in the service of a strong argument or assay? Hither are some techniques you tin use to review your draft and assess your use of evidence.

Make a reverse outline

A reverse outline is a cracking technique for helping y'all see how each paragraph contributes to proving your thesis. When you make a reverse outline, you record the main ideas in each paragraph in a shorter (outline-like) class so that you lot can see at a glance what is in your paper. The opposite outline is helpful in at to the lowest degree 3 means. First, it lets y'all run across where you have dealt with too many topics in one paragraph (in general, you should have one main idea per paragraph). 2nd, the reverse outline can aid you see where y'all need more testify to prove your point or more analysis of that bear witness. 3rd, the contrary outline can assistance you write your topic sentences: in one case you have decided what you want each paragraph to be about, you tin write topic sentences that explain the topics of the paragraphs and state the relationship of each topic to the overall thesis of the paper.

For tips on making a contrary outline, come across our handout on organization.

Color code your paper

You will demand iii highlighters or colored pencils for this exercise. Use one colour to highlight general assertions. These volition typically exist the topic sentences in your paper. Side by side, use another colour to highlight the specific prove you provide for each assertion (including quotations, paraphrased or summarized material, statistics, examples, and your ain ideas). Lastly, utilise another color to highlight analysis of your testify. Which assertions are key to your overall argument? Which ones are especially contestable? How much evidence do y'all have for each assertion? How much assay? In full general, you should have at least as much assay as y'all do testify, or your paper runs the risk of being more than summary than argument. The more controversial an assertion is, the more testify you may need to provide in lodge to persuade your reader.

Play devil's advocate, human action like a child, or doubt everything

This technique may be easiest to use with a partner. Ask your friend to have on one of the roles above, then read your paper aloud to him/her. After each department, interruption and let your friend interrogate you lot. If your friend is playing devil's advocate, he or she will always accept the opposing viewpoint and force yous to keep defending yourself. If your friend is acting like a child, he or she will question every sentence, even seemingly self-explanatory ones. If your friend is a doubter, he or she won't believe anything you say. Justifying your position verbally or explaining yourself will force you to strengthen the prove in your paper. If you already have enough prove only haven't connected information technology conspicuously enough to your main argument, explaining to your friend how the prove is relevant or what it proves may assist y'all to do so.

Common questions and additional resources

I have a general topic in mind; how can I develop it and so I'll know what evidence I need? And how tin can I get ideas for more evidence? See our handout on brainstorming.
Who can help me notice evidence on my topic? Check out UNC Libraries.
I'm writing for a specific purpose; how can I tell what kind of evidence my audition wants? See our handouts on audition, writing for specific disciplines, and particular writing assignments.
How should I read materials to get together prove? See our handout on reading to write.
How can I make a good statement? Check out our handouts on argument and thesis statements.
How exercise I tell if my paragraphs and my paper are well-organized? Review our handouts on paragraph development, transitions, and reorganizing drafts.
How do I quote my sources and incorporate those quotes into my text? Our handouts on quotations and avoiding plagiarism offering useful tips.
How do I cite my evidence? See the UNC Libraries citation tutorial.
I think that I'g giving testify, but my instructor says I'm using too much summary. How tin can I tell? Check out our handout on using summary wisely.
I desire to use personal experience every bit bear witness, but tin I say "I"? We have a handout on when to apply "I."

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is non a comprehensive list of resource on the handout'southward topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please exercise non use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, equally it may non friction match the citation style yous are using. For guidance on formatting citations, delight see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial. We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Lunsford, Andrea A., and John J. Ruszkiewicz. 2016. Everything's an Argument, 7th ed. Boston: Bedford/St Martin's.

Miller, Richard E., and Kurt Spellmeyer. 2016. The New Humanities Reader, 5th ed. Boston: Cengage.

University of Maryland. 2019. "Research Using Primary Sources." Research Guides. Concluding updated October 28, 2019. https://lib.guides.umd.edu/researchusingprimarysources.

Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 License.
You lot may reproduce it for non-commercial utilize if you utilise the unabridged handout and attribute the source: The Writing Heart, Academy of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Make a Gift

longtwold1986.blogspot.com

Source: https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/evidence/